Brock Jensen is the established starter, but the job for his No. 1 backup is becoming one of the more interesting stories in BIson fall camp. Esley Thorton came out of spring ball as the No. 2 guy but Carson Wentz is battling him to the point that there appears to be not a lot of separation between them. Head coach Craig Bohl said as much today when he was asked if there is a decision there. Both quarterbacks didn’t have their best practice, either, so Bohl said it will be back to the film to see who had the better day.

Elsewhere:

• I think freshman receiver Andrew Okland is going to get a shot to play a lot this year, especially early in the season. Who knows if he’ll take advantage of it but he’s been getting a lot of work with the main receiver rotation. He caught a nice long bomb this morning and looked good doing it.
• Running back Sam Ojuri was back at practice in a limited capacity, mainly appearing in a two-minute drill at the end of the drills.
• Junior college running back Deveon Dinwiddie is quick to the line of scrimmage. I’m not sure if he’ll be able to break a tackle but his feet are a strength.
• Receiver Trevor Gebhart is out with a hamstring injury, as is starting receiver Ryan Smith.
• There were more than the usual number of interceptions today. Jordan Champion picked off Wentz and Marcus Williams intercepted a couple returning one to the end zone. Cornerback Brendin Pierre nearly picked off one ball, then did it on the next play. You make the call: poor offensive execution or stout defensive back play.
• Running back John Crockett made linebacker DeShawn Dinwiddie miss to the point that Dinwiddie looked like he pulled a muscle or something afterward (he didn’t). On the other side, I saw Crockett get the ball knocked out for the first time albeit it was out of bounds and wouldn’t have been a lost fumble.
• Freshman defensive lineman Brett Pierce will probably redshirt this year, but NDSU looks like it did well to recruit him.